13 April 2022
An Extension of Self – Nathan Kaso’s Evolving Career in Photography and Filmmaking
Allowing his projects to organically emerge, it’s easy to see Nathan Kaso’s passion for photography, brought forth through a consistent enthusiasm and aspirational approach to the artform. “Photography has been an interest of mine for over 15 years,” Nathan explains, “but it wasn’t until I rediscovered film a few years ago that I developed a deep passion for the medium.” After having a friend show him their Canon EOS-1N 35mm camera, Nathan quickly realised the power of film photography – “and haven’t taken a digital picture since.” Documenting the lives of his wife and children is a main priority for Nathan; this fuelled his reflex to shooting on film, the desire to give his children the same nostalgic rite of passage he has when revisiting an old, physical photo album.
Shot at the beginning of 2020, the zine is comprised of images of small towns scattered along the highways, documenting Nathan’s road trip spent in the California desert.
Shooting weddings has emerged as an instinctive extension of his family photography, capturing raw, candid and emotional moments. The same can be said about Nathan’s 36-page photographic zine, The Warm California Sun. Shot at the beginning of 2020, the zine is comprised of images of small towns scattered along the highways, documenting Nathan’s road trip spent in the California desert. “The trip was partly about having a break after a very busy year in 2019, but I also wanted to prove to myself that I could take the kind of pictures I thought I was capable of, but hadn’t had the opportunity to attempt,” he says. “I had spent a lot of time learning to shoot medium format film and developing my own workflows for scanning to give the images a unique look, so this trip was my chance to really put this to the test.”
Originally hoping to put on an exhibition in Melbourne when he returned, the pandemic and lockdown restrictions instead meant that Nathan had to get creative in how to present the photos as one unified, finished collection and, thus, the zine was conceived. “The curation of images was the biggest challenge for me,” Nathan explains. “I spent a lot of time living with the images before I produced the zine and found that my taste changed over time.” Having researched some of the towns and locations before flying over to the U.S., Nathan’s shoot was mostly driven by the visuals and towns he discovered along the way. His favourite shots emerged spontaneously, mostly when passing by a highway or driving through the back streets of a small American town.
“I spent a lot of time living with the images before I produced the zine and found that my taste changed over time.”
“One of the things I love about shooting with film is that I often forget what I have photographed,” Nathan muses. “When I scan my images, I can be more objective in deciding what works. I find shooting on digital and having instant access to the images can result in me having trouble letting go of shots that I really want to love, but deep down I know aren’t that great.” The series was captured on a Hasselblad 500C/M medium-format camera using a Zeiss 80mm f/2.8 lens and Kodak Portra 400 film stock. “I love shooting in 6x6 format and limiting myself to square frames with just one lens – [it] allows me to concentrate more on composition without being distracted by choices, such as camera orientation and focal length.”
The Warm California Sun is available for purchase through Nathan’s website.
